I'm stumped...pool still cloudy

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2002sheds

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Apr 15, 2013
174
Beautiful Santa Rosa, CA
Hi All,
I am hoping that some of you wiser than me folks can help me figure out why our pool is blue but still cloudy, even after FC has been maintained at around 20 for the last several days.

The specifics are: Intext Ultraframe 32 by 16 pool, old PacFab sand filter with glass instead of sand, operating pressure in normal range (for this pool it is around 13-14 psi), and (from a Hach test strip):

Total Hardness 250
Total Chlorine 20 (maybe slightly higher, it was at the top of the chart)
Free Chlorine 20
PH 7.6
Total Alkalinity 100
CYA 40

Cloudy Pool 7 5 22.jpg

I have vacuumed the dead algae, and brushed the pool (but maybe not as often as I should have). Approximately the first foot or so is pretty clear, but I imagine that even that has stuff suspended in it. I have tried small amounts of clarifier with no effect.

I have not inspected the filter for "tunneling", and would like to know how far that is down the list of probability, since getting the cover back on without leaking always takes several attempts.

As always, any and all help will be welcomed!


Thanks,
David
 
Hi Tex,
Well, the results are in, and they are not very pretty…

FC is 23
CC is 2.5
CYA is about 80 :(
PH is 7.2
TA is 90 or 100
Calcium Hardness is 140

The biggest difference in these results from that of the test strips is in CYA. Every single test strip (about 20 so far) indicated very low CYA. The Taylor test result is through the roof. The chemicals from the test kit are at least 4 years old (but kept in a dry shed in California, if that matters), so there is a little skepticism on my part as to whether the results are all legit.

Still, I cannot escape the fact that Combined Chlorine (the test strip results were off the chart for Free Chlorine, rendering a calculation to reach Combined Chlorine difficult or impossible) is WAY over zero, and could easily be 2.5.

So now what? Brush until my arms fall off? Get some alum, broadcast it tonight and in the morning vacuum whatever is on the bottom to waste? All of the above? Other?

Thanks,
David
 
If your kit reagents are 4 years old you need to order some new reagents stat. I don’t if you are on water restrictions in NorCal but you definitely want to reduce your CYA in half.

Test strips and 4 year old expired reagents are not going to help you moving forward. When you get the new reagents keep your kit in the house.
 
Hi Wire,
As I wrote above, one of the CYA test results is way off. Every single test strip (purchased one month ago) came back with CYA at the low end (first nearly zero, after adding stabilizer it has moved up to around 30).

Meanwhile, my Taylor testing agents are all 4 years old, or maybe older. This is why I’m at least suspect of a few of those results.

I’ve ordered a new test kit, but it won’t arrive until next week. Until then, I think I am resigned to brushing and vacuuming (or I might take a sample into Leslie Pool, so I have a baseline comparison). If the CYA is truly that high, then I agree that draining some of the water is my best bet. Since it is an above ground pool, I may as well get rid of some of that water by vacuuming…

Thanks,
David
 
an1vrsy said:
If your kit reagents are 4 years old you need to order some new reagents stat. I don’t if you are on water restrictions in NorCal but you definitely want to reduce your CYA in half.

Test strips and 4 year old expired reagents are not going to help you moving forward. When you get the new reagents keep your kit in the house.
Click to expand...
Hi An,
Absolutely agree :). I just wrote a much longer reply to Wire…
 

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Hi Wire, All,
Today I decided to check our sand filter, since I have not been maintaining it correctly. It was loaded with glass about 3 years ago, and the media looked good. One thing that stood out right away is that there was some clumping of the glass and what looked like a gopher hole from the top to fairly close to the bottom, if not all the way.

I removed the glass, checked the laterals (which looked fine) and reloaded the glass. As soon as I got the air out of the system I was able to see that the normal operating pressure for this setup is 16 PSI -- up 3 from just before servicing the filter. My suspicion is that if that was indeed a tunnel down through the glass, that would explain the lower operating pressure compared to when the setup was "fresh". Is this logic correct?

Another mystery that seems to be getting solved is the high CC number (if it is accurate -- new testing kit is on its way). I brushed from the far end towards the skimmer/pump end, and dredged up a small amount of dead algae and leaves. Then I started to brush the end closest to the skimmer and pump, and there it was -- a whole swath of green nastiness and a ton of leaves came swirling up with each push of the brush.

I suffered a similar fate one summer with the pool at our last house, where I couldn't quite see the bottom in the deep end. Even my kid and his friends did not disturb the layer of anaerobic slime when they swam in the pool. When I finally got the sense to vacuum, the smell from the leaf canister was like sewer gas -- absolutely disgusting. Upon removing this crud, the pool cleared quickly. I am hoping that this is the case here as well...

Thanks,
David
 
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